BATON ROUGE – Under second-year head coach Chris Bertrand, the Northwestern State baseball team has emphasized learning from every situation it encounters.
Part of that learning process has been how to handle double-midweek games – another of which begins this evening when the Demons travel to face No. 7 LSU. First pitch for the game is set for 6:30 p.m. with TV coverage on SEC Network+ from Alex Box Stadium.
The Demons come home to face Mississippi Valley State in their home midweek finale at 6 p.m. Wednesday. That game will air on ESPN+.
Northwestern took the last two in a three-game Southland Conference series against visiting Lamar over the Easter weekend. Trent Hillen’s six-inning performance in Saturday’s series finale, a 7-3 NSU victory, landed him his second Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week honor of the season.
Hillen’s sixth win of the season helped the Demons clinch their fourth straight Southland home series and lifted Northwestern into fifth place in the 12-team league standings.
A junior from Morgan City, Hillen scattered seven hits and struck out three as he notched his fourth quality start in Southland play. He did not allow an earned run by holding Lamar hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Hillen surrendered only one hit with a runner aboard, limiting Lamar to a 1-for-13 performance in that situation.
The Demons won the second game 2-1 in 10 innings on Clay Jung’s RBI double.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to get back out and play, considering everything that we learned about ourselves over the weekend – especially in the two ball games we were fortunate to come out on the winning end of,” Bertrand said. “It continues to be where our belief is for the remaining 12 games of the season, we need to work on the Demons on a daily basis, and we need to work hard toward becoming the best version of ourselves. If you do that, then where you play the game and who’s in the other dugout is not necessarily the focus.”
That doesn’t mean the Demons (24-17) do not respect the Tigers (34-7), who are the second Top 25 team Northwestern will face this season.
The Demons dropped all three games of a weekend series at then-No. 24 Troy in February.
That experience – combined with a double-midweek set at UL Lafayette and Tulane from April 1-2 – should help Northwestern feel more comfortable amid one of the more challenging venues in college baseball.
“We welcome the challenge of playing a program like LSU,” Bertrand said. “We welcome the experience that it gives our kids to be able to play on that type of stage in that type of environment against those caliber of those players. At the same time, when you’re focused on working on yourselves, then it really only comes into play from a scouting-report standpoint.”
The trip to Baton Rouge will be a homecoming of sorts for several Demons at both ends of the experience spectrum. Redshirt senior center fielder Reese Lipoma is from nearby Gonzales while freshman right-handed pitcher Wesley Marien, who has picked up saves in each of his past two Southland appearances, is a Baton Rouge native who prepped at Parkview Baptist.
Those two are joined by several other Northwestern players who are from nearby Baton Rouge, including left-handed pitcher Jacob LeBlanc (Central), right-handed pitcher Dylan Marionneaux (Zachary) and outfielders Bennett Clement (St. Francisville) and Lane Lusk (Watson). The Leonard twins — outfielder Brooks and pitcher Bryce — are from Pierre Part, extending the Demons’ capitol-area ties.
Northwestern is set to start another Louisiana native – Shreveport right-hander Kevin Robinson (6-1) – against the Tigers.
“I think that’s up and down our roster from the top down,” Bertrand said. “I welcome the experience as the leader and the challenge in facing a team like that and getting to coach in that type of environment. I know the players feel exactly the same. We view it as something that you’re looking to go and prove your worth on that type of stage. That’s good for anybody involved with the program.”
The Demons will return home to face Mississippi Valley State (11-17), which will play only its eighth road game of the season.
It will be the final home midweek game for the Demons, who are 18-4 overall at home and have posted a 6-1 mark at home in midweek contests.
“We welcome what’s going to be happening Tuesday night, and we’re excited about coming back home and playing our last home midweek game in front of the amazing fans at the B-Stro,” Bertrand said.